Report: Commissioner David Stern determined to return NBA to Seattle

David Stern reportedly wants to secure an NBA team in Seattle before retiring as commissioner in 2014. (AP)

In the 15 months NBA Commissioner David Stern has left before he hands off the role to Adam Silver, he’s hoping to bring a franchise back to Seattle.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports league sources are saying Stern is determined and has been working closely with “Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s group to return the NBA to Seattle.”

Ballmer’s group has been trying to get the Maloof family to sell the Sacramento Kings, so that the franchise can eventually play in a new arena in Seattle.

Sources say Stern should have enough time to get the Kings to Seattle before February 2014 and make things right with Seattle fans who lost the SuperSonics to Clay Bennett and Oklahoma City over four years ago. There’s also belief Stern, who Sonics fans say let them down in the process, will let his successor stand in the spotlight on opening night and receive all of Seattle’s booing.

Timing couldn’t be more perfect for investor Chris Hansen, who recently won support from both the King County and Seattle City Councils to build a new arena in Seattle. At the same time, interest in building a new arena for the Kings in Sacramento has been fading while pressure on the Maloofs to sell the team has been growing, according to Yahoo Sports.